A Game of You
by sakuuya
Summary: A La Mode AU. When the new threat to Earth is a woman from Ryou's past, he can't help but stumble in his dedication to saving the planet. A sequel to "Stop the World," written for True Colours' Alternate Pairings Contest. Ryou/Duke.
1. A Remembrance of Things Past

**A Game of You**

**Chapter 1: A Remembrance of Things Past**

This story was written for **True Colours' ****Alternate Pairing Contest.** I started writing it Sunday night, but OpenOffice died on me partway through, and I couldn't get over it enough to start re-writing until today. Yes, I understand that that's pathetic.

Anyhow, this fic is a sequel to my story "Stop the World," and thus contains the same rarepair, but you don't have to read that to know what's going on here. Just know that it takes place in a slight AU where Ryou and Keiichiro are five years older than they are in canon—21 and 27, respectively. There are other differences, but they're all touched upon in the story itself and thus don't merit a mention here.

Oh, and in case the whole "Alternate Pairing Contest" thing didn't tip you off: Despite what the character filter claims, this is _not_ a Ryou/Ichigo fic. Sorry if you somehow came in expecting one.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Tokyo Mew Mew_ or _Tokyo Mew Mew: A La Mode_. If I had the choice, I'd only want to own the former, anyway.

* * *

"This stinks," Minto groused as she fired a Mint Arrow at a waist-high giant tortoise. "Why couldn't you get your boyfriend to take all the chimeras back to his stupid planet?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Ichigo replied, blushing. "Ugh, don't even say that!"

"What are you afraid of? Masaya's in England. It's not like he'll hear you if you confess your undying love for Kish," Minto cackled.

"Minto, stop teasing Ichigo." As soon as the words left Zakuro's mouth, the blue-haired Mew quit leering at her friend and looked down demurely. "She's got a point, though, Ichigo: We seem to be just as busy now as we were when Kish and the others were here." Zakuro lashed her whip at the tortoise-chimera, which stumbled and fell. "Go, Ichigo!"

"Right! Reborn, Strawberry check!"

In a flash of pink light, the monstrous tortoise dissolved and separated into a bemused little reptile and an alien parasite. Masha swooped in to scoop up the latter, but before he could ingest it, Purin grabbed the jellyfish-thing and whirled it around like it was her dance partner.

"Put that down," Ichigo said, a touch exasperated. "That's a dangerous alien, not a toy."

"Aww," the blonde Mew said with a pout, "but these little monsters aren't any fun. I wish we had a real challenge, na no da!"

"You could have asked more politely, but I think a 'real challenge' can be arranged."

No matter which way Purin looked, she couldn't find the source of that voice. And the weirdest thing was that none of the others seemed concerned by it. In fact, they were all looking at her like _she_ was the crazy one. It wasn't until they started lumbering toward her that Purin realized something was wrong. With her simian reflexes, she leapt out of her friends' grasp, but they just turned to pursue her, leaving their Mew weapons lying on the ground.

"That's right, run!" the strange voice cackled. "I promise, you'll tire out long before they do!"

Purin skidded to a stop.

"Ichigo! Guys, it's me, na no da!"

She stared up into their faces, but there wasn't a hint of recognition in the other Mews' blank eyes. Zakuro, always the fastest of the group, reached the little Mew first and began to claw at her, seemingly oblivious to her own Mew powers. Purin cried out in pain; she only had a second before the others were on her as well. She scrunched her eyes shut and hoped her plan would work. She only had one shot.

"Reborn, Pudding Inferno!"

When the yellow light cleared, the mind-controlled Mews were stuck fast in neck-high blobs of gelatin. Slowly, one by one, the other girls came slowly out of their trances. The pudding surrounding them disappeared.

"What happened to us?" Retasu asked, holding her head. Then, when she saw Purin's scratched face and arms, she added, "Oh my gosh! What happened to you!?"

"Well, it appears that _nothing _happened to any of you. How gauche."

The voice sounded annoyed this time, but Purin shot looks to her teammates before trying to locate its source. Luckily, they all seemed to be themselves. A man in a long, fancy coat and a cravat appeared before them. He appeared to be human, but the way he floated in midair reminded the Mews of nothing so much as the aliens.

"I suppose I'll just have to finish you children off myself," he said, bloodlust sparkling in his eyes.

"Not likely," Ichigo replied. She held up her hand, and her bell flew into it. "You think you can just mind-control us and get us to attack our friends? You'll pay for that, whoever you are!"

Seemingly unimpressed, the man took a mocking bow in midair.

"My true name is of no concern, but you may call me his Royal Highness. Remember that name, for it's the last one you'll ever hear!"

By now, the others had also regained their Mew weapons, and they fired attacks as he swooped down at them. He dodged the rainbow light with surprising agility, until one lucky attack of Zakuro's caught him across the bridge of his nose. Raising a gloved hand to his lightly-bleeding face, Royal Highness gasped.

"My beautiful face! How—how _dare_ you!?" he screeched, regal composure lost. "Oh, I shall make you pay for that someday, Mew Ichigo, but for now, I think I've done my job. Farewell." He bowed again. "I look forward to spilling your disgusting blood in the future."

And with that, he teleported away.

"Who was that guy?" Minto wondered aloud. "And how the heck did he know your name Ichigo?"

The catgirl bit her lip. She hadn't even noticed that he'd called her by her name, but it was a worrying development.

"I dunno. Whoever he was, though, we'd better go warn Ryou and Keiichiro about him. They think we're just cleaning up leftover chimeras, but maybe they'll know something about this new wacko. Ugh, my head. I hate mind control."

The girls transformed back into their civilian clothes and rushed back to the café. It was still early, just after sundown, but the pink building looked closed.

"Geez," Minto muttered. "You'd think they could hire other waitresses so they wouldn't have to close when we're not there."

Zakuro, though, looked worried.

"I came here sometimes before I became a Mew Mew, and it was open even when you girls weren't here. I don't like the look of this. Stay close, everybody."

The Mews entered the dark café in a tight huddle. Inside, it was totally dark, without even the omnipresent light of Keiichiro working in the kitchen.

"This is too scary! Can we go? Please?" Ichigo whined.

"Oh, come _on_. You saved the world, but you're scared of an empty building? There isn't even anyone in here!"

Minto was more right about that than she thought. The café's power appeared to be out, but the girls transformed back into their Mew forms and used their weapons to light up their surroundings. The front room looked relatively normal. Oh, sure, no one had pushed their chairs back in, but if they'd all left when the power went out, that wasn't very surprising.

In the kitchen, though, there was a long, deep dent in the back wall. The Mews wound their way around the various tables and appliances to get a closer look. Purin, who was in the lead, nearly tripped over Keiichiro. The baker was sprawled unconscious on the floor beneath the dent.

"He's still alive," Retasu whispered, laying her head on Keiichiro's chest to hear his heartbeat, "But I don't know how badly he's hurt. I-I can stay here with him if you want to go on ahead. I'll make sure he doesn't get any worse, at least."

"I'll stay too!" Ichigo said, a little too quickly. "I don't want anyone going off by themselves, so that means you need a buddy. The rest of you, go down and check the lab."

Purin and Zakuro nodded; Minto rolled her eyes, but all three of them disappeared into the café's basement. Despite Retasu's presence, Ichigo was shaking uncontrollably by the time the others reappeared.

"W-what'd you find?" she asked, her mind awhirl with terrifying possibilities.

"Well," Zakuro said, "nothing appears to have been stolen or damaged, but Ryou is missing."

o()o

Ryou awoke, groaning, on a carpeted floor. His whole body felt like one big bruise, but his left arm hurt the worst. He craned his stiff neck to get a look at his bicep, and sure enough, there was a livid-purple handprint wrapped around it, as if someone had grabbed him with enough force to nearly crush his arm. Gingerly, he rubbed the mark with his other hand and dragged himself into a sitting position.

A shape detached itself from the indistinct walls. It was a tall, blond man, younger and paler than Ryou himself, but with strikingly similar hair. Through his pounding headache, Ryou hazily recalled the pale man breaking into his lab, and then a brief fight where even Ryou's Mew-like strength was no match for the stranger's. Not that any of that explained what the two of them were doing here. The room looked like it might be part of some European castle, from the ill-lit stone walls to the wine-red carpet he sat on to the raised throne at the back of it.

Ryou heard a door open and close behind him. Assuming he was alone in the room now, Ryou carefully took better stock of his injuries. Aside from the bright bruise where the pale brute had presumably been holding onto him, nothing seemed to be seriously damaged. His pulse was steady, his ribs were intact, and if he could just ignore the pounding in his head enough to think straight for a moment, he felt certain that he could figure out what was going on and how he could escape.

As it turned out, he didn't have the luxury of a moment. The door swung open again, and Ryou sat up stiffly facing the other way, not willing to let his captors think he was curious.

"Ah, so you must be the enigmatic leader of Tokyo Mew Mew!" a voice said warmly. A _woman's_ voice, so probably not the pale man's, though it did seem vaguely familiar. "I've been able to find out so much about your girls but almost nothing about y—oh!"

The speaker had walked around into his line of vision. She (he?) was wearing a white robe and matching hood, featureless except for small eye-slits. Despite his (her?) feminine voice, it was impossible to determine a gender from the speaker's appearance. But he (she?) seemed taken aback when she (he?) saw Ryou's face.

"Well, well, well, Shirogane Ryou! I should have guessed you were behind Tokyo Mew Mew! Who else would possibly be brilliant enough to pull off such a feat of genetic engineering?"

The hooded figure laughed warmly. Ryou narrowed his eyes.

"I'm afraid you have the advantage over me. I don't believe we've met..."

"Come now! You really don't recognize me? Ah, well, I _could_ leave you in suspense, but I suspect our negotiations will go more smoothly once you know who I am."

_Negotiations?_ Ryou thought. _Is he (she?) crazy? Who the hell thinks that kidnapping someone and dragging him to who-knows-where is a good way to conduct _negotiations_? _

The robed figure removed her—she was definitely a woman, he saw now—hood, and Ryou immediately knew how she must have felt when she first saw his face. It had been almost six years, but she hadn't changed a bit. That long, elegant black hair, those sparkling, mischievous eyes... Ryou remembered every detail of her face. Without conscious input, his lips formed her name.

"Kou...?"

She smiled a beatific, amused smile that he remembered too well.

"It's very good to see you again, Ryou, but we have serious matters to discuss."


	2. A Funny Bit of Chemistry

**Chapter 2: A Funny Bit of Chemistry**

Eep. I'm definitely not going to get this fic done by the deadline. I hope that doesn't disqualify me, but if it does, eh, it's my own stupid fault. Anyhow, this chapter gives a much better indication of what the fic as a whole will be like, in terms of tone and character dynamics and whatnot.

Talking with people about the first chapter, it turned out that not everyone is as familiar with _A La Mode_ as I figured they were. The next paragraph is _full_ of spoilers for ALM, so if you somehow want to read this fic without being spoiled (and, um, good luck with that), skip it.

Duke is the leader of the Saint Rose Crusaders, the villains of ALM. The Crusaders are a group of teenagers with various superhuman abilities who want to reshape the world in some way that's never really made clear in the canon. Duke, in an uncomfortable, awkward case of cultural appropriation on Ikumi's part, wears a KKK robe and hood—though she isn't a KKK member or even particularly racist—and throughout the series, her gender is never made explicitly clear. She's a woman in my stories because I think she looks female without her hood, but I may be incorrect. Her "real" name, Kou, is a joke: According to the dictionary I used, "Kou" is the equivalent of a Western noble, like a lord or, well, a duke. She does not have a canon real name.

Oh, and Duke and Ryou don't canonically have a past together. This story is an AU with a prequel for a reason.

* * *

"Kou... What... How did you—" Ryou shook his head, trying to clear it. No use, he was still too flustered to make sense of things. "How have you been, Kou?"

She laughed a high, clear laugh. Ryou remembered the warmth of her _real_ laugh and shuddered.

"No one's called me Kou in a long time. I go by Duke now."

"I fail to see how that's much of a difference."

"Ah, you would. So, what've you been up to since I last saw you? Revolutionize genetics yet?"

"Nah," Ryou replied guardedly. "Just research, stuff like that. You know."

Duke's eyes hardened, and her false smile dissolved into a thin, flat line.

"Don't lie to me, Ryou. It doesn't become you. I brought you here because you're the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew. I didn't even know that you were, well, _you_ when I asked Blue to bring you here."

"What _are_ you doing here, Kou? And what the hell are you wearing? After the way you left, I think I deserve some answers."

Duke studied him for a moment, and then the fake smile bloomed again on her face.

"Yeah, I guess you do. You remember what happened. After—after that, I just couldn't stand being around people any more. I felt so alone... Oh, Ryou, you can't even imagine how terrible it is to be the only one of your kind in the whole world."

"You're right. I should have—"

"Don't worry about it," she said, her eyes shining and her smile bright and brittle. "It turns out I'm _not_ the only one. I found these teenagers, who... Well, they've suffered a lot more than I have. I finally have a family, Ryou."

"I mean, I'm happy for you, but that doesn't explain why you kidnapped me. Oh, wait, pardon me," he corrected with a sarcastic quirk of his lips. "It doesn't explain why you kidnapped the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew, who just _happened_ to be me."

"My family and I are going to change the world, and we don't want to come into conflict with your girls."

Ryou stiffened. Kidnapping didn't strike him as the best way to make this kind of negotiation. What if she _hadn't_ known him? How would this conversation be going then?

"What do you mean, Kou?" he asked guardedly. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

"We're going to reshape this gauche world into a paradise free of prejudice. We want to make the world a better place, Ryou. And we don't want to fight Tokyo Mew Mew."

"Tokyo Mew Mew was created to protect the people of Earth. If you don't endanger them, then there shouldn't be any problem."

He smiled reassuringly. God, Kou was still beautiful. She was also the best friend he'd ever had. None of that silenced the little voice in his head that said she was dangerous, that she had indeed been dangerous even back when he'd known her in college. But no, that was stupid. Whatever was going on with Kou now—and he had no concrete evidence that anything _was_ going on with her—they had been true friends back in the day. If she was going down a dangerous path, he could pull her back.

"Do you want to go get lunch with me tomorrow?" he asked before he could give himself time to think about it. Damn. He hadn't seen her for six years, and he was still afraid of her rejection.

"I'd like that a lot, Ryou."

"Tomorrow at one, then? We can meet in the park outside my café. Judging by how you _kidnapped me_, I assume you can find that, right?" he asked with a smirk.

"Sounds good."

"Oh, and Kou?"

"Yes?"

"Don't wear that robe when we go out, okay?"

She laughed. He had a feeling that everything was going to be all right.

o()o

When Ryou got back to the café after being led blindfolded out of Kou's building—_secrecy, you understand—_he was surprised to see the building dark and deserted. He didn't remember the power going out, but either it had happened during his scuffle with Kou's bodyguard, or something unrelated had knocked it out. Honestly, he hoped it was the former. One semi-crisis at a time was enough for him.

"Girls, are you all okay?" he called into the building's dark interior.

A scrambling sound came from the kitchen, and he tensed, half-expecting a chimera, but it was just Ichigo and Minto.

"Oh, Ryou! Thank goodness! What happened to you? We were so worried!" Ichigo babbled.

"Can you fix the power? I'm tired of dealing with this scaredy-cat," Minto chimed in.

"I'm fine," he replied, purposefully gruff. "You should have been dealing with the problems here instead of wasting time worrying about me."

Ichigo looked hurt. She was his greatest creation, not to mention a sweet little girl. He didn't want to hurt her, but at the same time, he wasn't sure of the situation with Kou quite yet. If she wasn't a threat, he didn't want to alarm the girls for nothing.

"I thought you were past the point where you had to keep secrets from us," Ichigo said sulkily.

Minto took her gently by the arm and steered her away from Ryou.

"C'mon, Ichigo. You know him. If he wants to be a jerk, he's gonna be a jerk. Don't waste your time on him."

Ichigo allowed her friend to lead her away, but Ryou could have sworn that he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. He sighed inwardly. If he wanted her to be in fighting shape the next time a chimera showed up, he'd have to smooth things over with her somehow.

"What did you say to her?" someone asked from behind him.

When he turned, he saw Zakuro framed in the doorway, hands on her hips.

"Where were _you?_" he retorted, suddenly and inexplicably defensive.

"I was out looking for you," she replied, and he had no smart reply to that. "Whatever you said to Ichigo, you should go apologize. She's a good kid, and she really looks up to you. She really hates it when you're short with her."

Back when Ryou had first met Ichigo, she was like a stone cactus: dense and prickly. She never took anything he said seriously other than as a reason to snap back at him. When had that dynamic changed? He didn't particularly want to be around an Ichigo who took offense at every little thing. He nodded, though.

"You're right. I'm too hard on her."

Zakuro didn't seem to sense his inner irritation and bemusement, because she nodded and walked past him into the café. At any rate, he would probably have to talk to Ichigo at some point, if he wanted her to be of any use. But that was low on his list of priorities: First, he had to get the power back on, and then figure out what the hell to do about Kou.

Unfortunately, Ichigo found him while he was messing with the generator—which happened to be behind the wall he'd crashed into. Just his luck. Not for the first time, Ryou wished he could connect the place to the municipal electrical grid, but for such a little building, the café and labs used a _lot_ of electricity, and he didn't want anyone at the electrical company getting suspicious.

"What do you want, Ichigo?" he asked, half-hidden behind the wall. "I'm a little busy right now."

"I thought you should know we got attacked while you were gone."

She was clearly angry. He couldn't see her at the moment, but he could imagine her face flushing red with annoyance and her hands clenching at her sides. She'd saved the world, but he had to remember that she was only a child, no more than fourteen. Almost the same age he was when he first met Kou. He didn't remember ever being as immature as Ichigo could be, though.

"By a chimera? Thanks, Ichigo, but you didn't have to tell me. I trust you and the others to handle the little leftover chimeras by yourselves."

She let out a hiss of frustration.

"I don't know why I even try talking to you, sometimes..."

To Ryou's surprise, she sounded sad rather than angry. He missed her irritation. At least he knew how to deal with that.

"Did I misunderstand you? Calm down and tell me what happened."

Of course, she was already calm. But he didn't have an "Ichigo is depressed" script, so he had to make due with his old "Ichigo is irritated" one. Perhaps this had started happening when Aoyama left for England. Ryou didn't know for sure if Ichigo acted like this with her boyfriend, but just in case, he wished Aoyama would hurry up and come back. Ryou wasn't equipped to deal with this.

"Fine, but only because it's important. We _were_ fighting a regular Chimera, but then this weird guy showed up."

"Weird guy?" Ryou pulled himself out of the wall, suddenly taking this very seriously indeed. "Do you mean it was another alien?"

"No, he looked human, but he was wearing these crazy fancy clothes and he... Mind controlled us, I guess. I don't really remember, but Purin says we were totally under his control."

The bottom dropped out of Ryou's world.

"Then you girls need to stay on high alert," he said, trying to sound authoritative even though the room was spinning. "I'll try to find out everything I can on this new threat, but until we know for sure what's going on, you all should be on your guard. And Ichigo... I'm sorry I was so snippy."

Ryou felt nauseous, but he didn't let himself fall back against the wall until Ichigo left. He tried to tell himself not to jump to conclusions—after all, this might have been a completely unrelated event. But he was a scientist above all, and the likelihood of two separate well-dressed psychics suddenly taking an interest in his girls was improbable, to say the least.

He slid down the wall and sat on the floor, taking large gulps of air that seemed thinner than it had five minutes ago. Willing himself not to throw up, he decided that whatever was going on, he would find out the truth tomorrow at lunch.


	3. A Heap of Broken Images

**Chapter 3: A Heap of Broken Images**

Originally, this story was supposed to be four chapters long, but since I apparently can't get off my lazy butt and update in a consistent manner (and really, is anyone still surprised by this point?), I could only barely squeeze this one in under the deadline, let alone do anything else. So, uh, if the final chapter feels rushed, that's why.

Oh, and I don't even know if this seriously qualifies for the competition any more. Somewhere along the line it turned into a weird action fic. Darn it.

I kind of expected everyone to figure out what was going on last chapter, but I keep forgetting how few people have read ALM. Not that you should read it. It's baaad. But, uh, if, after reading this chapter, you're confused about what was going on, do a little research. Or ask. I'm cool with that too.

This chapter is dedicated to Maxwell Lord, who would greatly approve of it.

* * *

Looking back on the previous day, Ryou remembered his conversation with Kou as though he were watching it on a grainy old television: His memories had a staticky quality to them, which made it hard to remember what exactly he had been thinking until Ichigo told him that the Mews had been attacked. _That _memory was as sharp and bright as a knife, and it threw everything that happened after it into sharp relief. But it did nothing to illuminate what came before—that was all still a muddle.

Kou was clearly planning something untoward, but this time, Ryou would be ready for her. He slipped his cell phone in his pocket and an extra transmitter into the hollow heel of his shoe, just in case. Briefly, he considered dressing up for the lunch date he was supposedly going on, but as soon as the thought entered his head, he was disgusted with himself. This was _not _a date any more, and the fact that part of him thought that it was meant that he still wasn't completely right in the head.

He had to shake off whatever this weird infatuation was. College had been a long time ago, and he couldn't let it affect him any longer. He took a steadying breath, opened the café's doors, and stepped out into the sunlight.

Kou was not yet at their rendezvous, so Ryou sat down on a bench and mentally rehearsed for the upcoming confrontation. There was an edge of nervousness to his thinking that made him uncomfortable—hell, this whole situation made him uncomfortable. He was so used to being in control, but Kou made him feel like a little kid. All the better that he get the hard part over quickly, then.

When Kou finally strolled up to him, Ryou was pleased (and a little surprised, despite himself) to see that she was wearing a sundress instead of the cultish robe he had seen her in the day before. She was all smiles as she approached him, but as she got closer, her happy expression fell away.

"What's wrong, Ryou?" she asked hesitantly. She looked so sad that Ryou wanted to just reach out and—No. He came here with a purpose, and no matter how lovely Kou looked, he had to keep focused.

"Did one of your people attack my girls yesterday?" Keeping his voice calm and level was harder than he thought it would be. Kou's face cracked into a conciliatory smile. Ryou felt like he was going to explode, but she looked as effortlessly graceful as ever.

"Now, Ryou, I'm sure it was some kind of misunderstanding..."

"That's not what I asked. _Did you or did you not send someone to attack the Mews?_" Her expression changed again, this time into a flat, drilling stare. There was so much naked contempt in her face that Ryou felt nauseous, but her brown eyes locked into his blue ones, and he couldn't look away.

"Of course I did, Ryou. It would be an absurd coincidence if your precious little team suffered an _unrelated_ attack on the same day you were kidnapped. Even _you _can't be that naïve. I, ah, I was hopping that I'd sufficiently convinced you of my cause's righteousness that such things wouldn't be a problem, but you're stronger than I expected. Unless I've managed to convince you _now, _of course."

And the absolutely batshit part was that he wanted to agree with her. Despite the absolute loathing in her voice, there was a very real part of him that forgave her for what she had done to the Mews and just wanted to help her create the new world she had spoken of so eloquently the last time he had seen her. As her eyes bored into his, he wanted nothing more for the two of them to be together again, just like they had been in grad school.

Grad school! Ryou remembered a student, some neither of them even knew, doing cartwheels in the hallway for no reason other than because Kou wanted him to. _Shit. _Why hadn't he considered this before?

In a mighty act of will, Ryou broke away from Kou's gaze. Immediately, the urge to help his former friend faded, replaced by more comprehensible horror that she would _dare_ do this to him. He hadn't planned on the conversation going this way, but he had learned two important things: One, that Kou was no longer his friend, and two, that, if he tried hard enough, he could break free from her control. He hoped that would be enough.

Without a word, Ryou turned tail and ran back into the café.

He was a little surprised that Kou didn't follow him. Perhaps she was as unnerved by his ability to break her power as he was that she used it on him in the first place. In any case, after a minute or so, she turned and walked back the way she had come.

After making sure that no one was watching him, Ryou transformed into his cat form and slipped out a side door. Kou was too far away for him to follow by sight, and his sense of smell—though certainly better than it was when he was human—wasn't good enough that he trusted it to track by. Luckily, he'd made note of the route from the café to Kou's building, and though it would take him much longer to get there as a cat, the element of surprise would be worth it.

Ryou didn't count on being ambushed in the park. His assailant was no bigger than him, so unless Kou had a henchman who could shrink to kitty-size, this _was_ an unrelated attack. Damn it.

He wrestled his attacker to the ground, pinning him by the paws in a decidedly human gesture. Or, rather, pinning _her_, for his attacker turned out to be a small black cat with deep pink eyes.

_What the hell do you think you're doing, Ichigo?_ he literally hissed as he rolled off of her.

_You were acting funny, and I wanted to find out what you're up to. Who was that woman and why were you talking with her?_

He considered how much he really needed to share with Ichigo. On the one hand, he could certainly use the back up in case his fight with Kou got ugly, but this was his problem, not hers. She had no right to pry into his personal business like this—he was almost a decade her senior, and he did not have to tell her everything he—

_Her name is Zenjin Kou, but I think she goes by Duke now. She, uh, she's an old friend from way back. And she was behind the attack yesterday. I have to stop her before she really hurts anybody._

_So now you want my help taking her down? _Honestly, Ichigo was just as annoying as a cat as she was when she was human. Was she seriously going to make him beg?

_Please, Ichigo_, he mewed, swallowing his pride. _It's going to be dangerous, but if I—if _we_ don't do something now, the situation is only going to get worse. Will you please help me?_

_Of course, Ryou_, she replied with a soft purr, _just don't keep anything like this from me ever again, okay?_

_I promise. Now, Kou can sort of... Push people into doing what she wants. Watch out for that, and if you feel the urge to cuddle up to her, resist it._

The two of them hurried into the city as fast as their little legs would carry them, discussing strategy and comparing notes on Kou's henchmen.

From outside, Ryou was surprised to find that Kou's building wasn't a castle at all, but a small, unremarkable office building. He and Ichigo wriggled in through a partially-opened window. Once inside, they were greeted with the castle-like décor that Ryou remembered. Unfortunately, though Ryou was pretty sure he could retrace his steps from the front doors up to where he was blindfolded, he and Ichigo had come in the side of the building, and he didn't know where he was. After consulting with Ichigo, he decided that their best chance was to head to the front door and go from there.

They were just unfortunate enough to make it to the door at the same time as someone else. He looked to be about Purin's height (though to Ryou's cat eyes, all humans looked impossibly tall), and neither Ryou nor Ichigo recognized him. He caught them in the middle of the entryway, and they had nowhere to hide.

"Ooh, kitties!" he said, clapping his hands with delight and scooping up a panicking Ichigo. She struggled in his grip, but he just laughed and petted her until, with a hiss, Ryou attacked his legs. The unfamiliar boy kicked Ryou away and, as the cat regained his footing for another charge, screamed.

It was unlike anything Ryou had experienced. He could feel blood leaking from his ears, and he couldn't even open his eyes to see if Ichigo was all right. The scream seemed to go on forever, and Ryou eventually lost consciousness.

o()o

He awoke, groaning, on a carpeted floor. After a moment of disorientation, he realized where he was: Kou's throne room. Hunh. He seemed to be ending up here a lot lately. This time, he was uninjured, though the bruise on his arm hadn't fully faded. _Oh_, he thought, _I've got arms again._ He squeezed his hands into fist to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Nope. _I must have changed back while I was unconscious._

Remembering that he hadn't come here alone, he looked around for Ichigo. She was chained to one of the walls by her hands and feet, and there was a gag over her mouth. She didn't seem to notice that he'd woken up; no one did. He started to make his way over to her, trying to be as slow and sneaky as possible.

"Come here, Ryou."

All thoughts of freeing Ichigo forgotten, he wandered up to where Kou sat. She held out her hand and he took it gently, rubbing it with his thumb. Kou smiled up at him.

"Let him _go!_" Ichigo screamed, and he didn't understand why. She was, after all, the one in chains.

"Now why would I do that?" Kou questioned. Her voice was the most beautiful, elegant thing Ryou had ever heard. "Ryou had the audacity not only to disobey me, but to create _you. _A team of heroes dedicated to stamping out _freaks_ like me! Well, let me tell you, cat-girl: You're a freak too, and I can destroy you."

"Then why didn't you?" Ichigo just sounded exhausted. "You've got Ryou, why not mind-control me too?"

"Because, _freak_, it's much more delightful to make you watch."

Kou leaned up for a kiss Ryou had been waiting five years for. This was the happiest moment of his life.


End file.
